← What Are You Made Of?
What Are You Made Of?
Health Drives Performance with Lauren Papanos: Rebuilding Thyroid & Mitochondrial Function from the Inside Out
00:31:41
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome back to the what do you Made Of Show. It's your boy, C Rock here. I'm with Lauren Pompanos from San Diego, and we're going to find out what she's made of today. Lauren, thank you for coming on the show today.
- [00:10]
B
Thanks for having me.
- [00:12]
A
Yeah, it's my pleasure. And I'm excited to talk to you because you're doing some amazing things and you also have a podcast. And I just, I'm interested in how you got started and what went into all this because I know that it's not easy starting a podcast and running a podcast consistently. I know it's not easy running a business, but also when you're making impact, you know, that's, that's a place. I have a place in my heart for people that are doing that, you know, impact driven mission. So, but let's start with this question first. What are you made of, Lauren?
- [00:42]
B
Yeah. So I mean, how I got started was I. When I was. So I went to school on a collegiate cheerleading scholarship. So I was. If everyone's ever seen the Netflix series Cheer, where there's one guy and a girl and she's doing, you know, spins and things on in his hands, that's what I went to school in scholarship for. And that was really my passion. And when I was, you know, in school, I started learning about nutrition. I minored in it and I ended up realizing that was really where my passion was, was in learning about how to use foods for healing. And so I switched over my major and I started really dabbling into more of like this sports nutrition type philosophy of things. And my director was a functional medicine practitioner. So I started learning about kind of how to combine the two of like the sports nutrition interest I had with this functional medic medicine principal. And so, long story short, I ended up, you know, becoming a registered dietitian and getting my master's degree and everything. And my first job took me to sports. And so I was working in collegiate athletics and ended up working with Olympian athletes and doing some work with like USA Swimming and things of that sort. And started realizing that there was a lot of issues that were overlapping in these really high performing athletes. You know, they looked so athletic on the outside and they looked so healthy on the outside, but there was a lot of struggle that was happening internally and there was a lot of pressure from the athletics team to be able to kind of manage these internal battles so that they could continue to perform at a really high level. And I really wanted to help this, this population of People. And then I started to realize that, okay, this isn't actually just happening with athletes. This is actually happening with all high performers. Anyone that's putting their body under consistent stress, whether it's from work stress or. Because, you know, a lot of people that run businesses and they work at a high level, they're also the same people that like to, you know, go pedal to the floor with their workouts and with all elements of their life. Right. So I started realizing that there was this connection happening with the high performer population of people, too. And that's really what led me into starting my podcast and building my practice, which is functional, fueling to really help individuals that are dealing with these kind of complex chronic health conditions, particularly rooted and more hormone imbalances, and helping them address the root causes of those. Those imbalances so they can get back to their high lifestyle, whether that's through exercise or just through living a high performance, you know, lifestyle with their job and whatever else it might be.
- [03:13]
A
Gotcha. All right, so there's a lot to unpack there. I want to start with the cheerleading stuff. Did you travel when you were younger? Because we have a place here in Ocean City. It's like a convention center. Right. And in the wintertime especially, the weather sucks here, but the cheerleaders come in full force. So were you one of the ones that were traveling around all those different things in routines?
- [03:32]
B
Exactly, yeah.
- [03:33]
A
Pretty crazy.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And then. And then when you go to college, it seems like it's more of that competitive cheer kind of thing. But the NFL, for example, or the NBA is more dance versus, like, acrobatics and all that. But NFL, they don't really do, like, acrobatics and stuff. I don't think they're just more, like, cheering. Right. Like, why is it that, like.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah, so there's different types of cheer. And I think most people kind of the stereotype is cheer is more of, like, this dance. Right? Which is what the NFL and the NBA portrays is. Is much more of, like, dancing looking pretty and much more of this, like, physical type of appearance of cheer. Right. Versus competitive cheer. The difference is that that's where the acrobatics more. The gymnastics comes into play. Right. So it's more of utilizing gymnastics, but also incorporating a little bit of dance into things as well. So I don't know why they have not expanded into that. Maybe because they don't want to compete for, you know, too much going on at the same time. Right. Because it's like, we want you, like, focusing on what's happening with, you know, the playing football, not focusing on all these stunts and things that are happening on the sideline. And so I think that with professional sports, it's just more focused on like how to keep the image going.
- [04:47]
A
Yeah, I think so. And then in, you know, modeling careers and different things, probably off of that, but like, it just seems like it would add to the show, you know, because I mean, I know when I see some of the stuff that you guys did, it's like crazy. You know, even at the high school level here, like they have a great gymnastics program for youngsters here. And then they develop them into cheer, some of them. And then they end up being on the high school cheer team and they're like ridiculous at the basketball game, football games. Yeah. So anyway, it's a sport. Competitive cheer is a sport.
- [05:21]
B
It's really. Yeah, it's really grown over the years too in terms of that athletic talent. I mean, the bar just keeps getting higher and higher of what you have to do.
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A
Yeah. So. All right, cool. So then you get into this field of sports medicine, nutrition, performance. Right. And. And were you working with a college like team at some point? Like actually like one of the athletics?
- [05:45]
B
Yeah. So I started my career in a fellowship at Texas A and M University and then got my first job, my full time job at ucla. And that was really where I started doing like research and left the position as the director of the nutrition program, overseeing the ENT athletic department. And then I left that to go work at Texas Tech because I wanted to work in football for a season. I thought maybe I want to go in the NFL. You know, there's more resources and things over there to kind of do more of this functional medicine type stuff. But ended up realizing that it just wasn't for me in terms of just the requirements of working athletics with how much it travel and all the other things that go into it.
- [06:26]
A
What, the NFL?
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B
Yeah, just athletics in general. And it's fine when you're young, but then once you start to be like, okay, I want to start a family and I want to, you know, do things in my own personal life. Like when you work in athletics, your life is your job. I mean, yeah, you're there 5am Till 8pm Most days during season. You're traveling on the weekends. Like there is no extra room for anything.
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A
Yeah, yeah. Especially if you're doing all the athletics because there's no off season threats.
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B
Yeah. Once one team is out of season, you're in the next.
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A
But was it fun when you Were younger for, like, being at Texas A and M& UCLA and Texas Tech.
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B
It was so fun. It was. It was the best, you know, and just so many cool experiences and, you know, just like, the dream, you know, when you're. When you're that age, it's just like. Yeah. Fun.
- [07:11]
A
Yeah. Yeah. And then what were some of the signs, like, when you started wanting to settle down and have your own life and maybe have. Start a family and all that? Like, did it happen quick or did it creep up on you? And then how did you make the decision? Was it difficult?
- [07:25]
B
It did creep up on me, for sure. I think that, you know, it took about, like, five years for me to really realize that that was the direction I needed to go. And it was really difficult because I had a lot of fear around, like, could I do this? You know, could I create something successful on my own with no other backing behind me, no other support? So, you know, I kind of took that leap of faith and. And hope that it was going to work out. And, you know, I have an entrepreneurial dad who I think has instilled a lot of discipline and just, you know, grit in me. And so I. I did it, you know, and the first year, I would say, was, like, really working. Like, I mean, the first couple of years, as anyone knows, starting a business, like, you're just working in overtime 24 7, you know, until you can get to the place of, like, okay, I found my groove, and I know where to invest my time and energy more.
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A
Yeah. Yeah. How was it growing up with an entrepreneurial dad? Because I have kids, and, you know, my son and I, we go. My daughter's 13 now, but my son's 19. And, yeah, we go at it, man. And. And sometimes, because I know. I know what it takes to go to the next level, and he can skip some things and go further faster than I did, because I didn't have me in my life, you know, when I was younger. So how was that? Like, what was that dynamic like?
- [08:41]
B
It was so great. I mean, my dad is, like, my best friend, honestly. He's just like, we're so close. And growing up, I just always was very amazed by everything that he was doing. Like, I just wanted to watch and I wanted to know more. And, um, was just always very curious and just found him, like, really interesting, I would say. Um, and I think my dad's always been. He just always pushed me, like, you know, you can do it. You've got this, like, you're the best at what you do. He's never doubted me and just always, like, instilled in me to be adventurous, to take risks. I think that's what my dad is really good at with being an entrepreneur, is taking a lot of risks. And sometimes I think it's to my fault how many risks I take. And that's why I thankfully have my husband to balance me, because he's much more of like a. Okay, like, let's think about that first before we take that risk. Right. But that was like my dad who instilled that in me. It was just like, take a risk and stay committed to it and it's going to work out. And he always, like, says that quote to me at Walt Disney, quote, where it's like, if you build it, they'll come. He's like, you know, if you have this passion, you see it, like, build it and then you can figure out all the audience and all the customers afterwards.
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A
Yeah, yeah. Well, what kind of business was he in?
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B
He's done everything. Honestly. He's like a serial entrepreneur, but he works like in the car industry. So, I mean, every type of, like, car dealership and, you know, he's even owned Laundromats and all the things.
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A
Gotcha. Gotcha. And so growing up in high school, being a cheerleader, did you play any of the sports as well?
- [10:10]
B
I did gymnastics through high school. That was like, what gave me that foundation for the like, acrobatic side of gym of cheer, and then did a little bit of volleyball. But I'm pretty, pretty petite, so I didn't get very far with that.
- [10:22]
A
Yeah, yeah. It's kind of hard with us short people. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm five, seven. Most people, when they meet me in person, they're like, dude, I thought you were like six foot something. I'm like, I just have a big
- [10:31]
B
personality, I guess for people you gotta compensate. So you.
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A
Yeah, I mean, you know Italian, so they don't make tall Italians. So. And then what was the culture like being in. In cheer and competitive cheer and all that? Because obviously TV shows dramatize itself, but yeah. Was it like really, like, clicky? Was it catty?
- [10:53]
B
It. There's elements of it, for sure, and yeah. But overall, I mean, it was the best decision I ever made at that time in my life to go off to school. Because, I mean, I went to a smaller school, Stephen F. Austin State. It's in East Texas. I moved from San Diego, growing up in San Diego, to the middle of a 36,000 population small town in Texas. And I had never seen the school before. I didn't know anything. All I knew was their history with cheer, with their cheer program, and that was all I cared about. And so, I mean, it was the best for me because I was able to stay focused. And all of my teammates just became, like, built in family, best friends. And they're still some of my best friends today. So, yeah, there's clickiness to it, but I think ultimately it's. It's more of a family, especially as you get to the higher levels, like when you get to college, people just kind of have, you know, they just don't care about those. Those pieces of things anymore.
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A
Yeah. And then did you fall into a little phase when you went to college of partying at all?
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B
We definitely had our fair share. Yeah. Yeah, I think.
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A
Yeah.
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B
My freshman year, for sure.
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A
Yeah, I went to college and played football. And like, I got to college, I came from a small town, not San Diego. I came from a small town in Maryland. And I didn't. I hadn't seen parties like that. I hadn't seen girls like that before. And I was just like. And I wasn't going anywhere in football anyway, like, in the long term. But I. I just. Yeah, I went. I went hard for a year, too, because that was just like, new and I, you know. But yeah, anyway, it's just always interesting to hear other people's stories with that. But, yeah, very little sleep and going to practice and being exhausted, you know, obviously, it was terrible. Anyway, all right, so then going forward now we have this big Maha movement and all these. Everybody's focused on. We have all these biohacking longevity doctors and influencers and marketers coming out. What is your favorite thing right now? Like, when, you know, people are talking about peptides and hormone treatments and. And different things, like, what is your favorite thing that really sticks out to you that you like to focus on?
- [12:52]
B
Right now, I would say I'm really in, like, a mitochondrial health focus. So all the things that we can do to blunt oxidative stress and help have healthier cells, and there's a lot that goes into that. You know, there's a lot of different tools from more of like, a root cause perspective. I do a lot of work in the immune system. I use a lot of this treatment that's called micro immunotherapy, which is a treatment that originates in Europe, and like, one of two practitioners that are licensed in the states that use it. But essentially they're like these low dose, like, immune mixes that we can Use to be able to augment what's happening in the immune system. And I'm really loving using it alongside some of the other treatment that we use. But I also love like your classical red light therapy and strength training Zone two aerobic exercise, you know, peptides. I think all of those are wonderful tools.
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A
You look at VO2 max.
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B
Yeah. So in more of my high performer, like athlete population, VO2 max, like DEXA, body composition, bone mineral density. Yeah. Heart rate, like the heart rate, lactate threshold, all of that type of data.
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A
Yeah. I, I was taking SS31 and MOTs C. Yep. And it made a huge difference because it goes in and I think one of them cleans out the mitochondrial, gets rid of some of the dead ones. I, I don't know exactly. I'm not, I'm not in that, in that field. I know a little bit to be dangerous, but it made a huge difference for sure. And now I have another lady that's in our community and a client of ours and she has a liquid oxygen, it's like the only one of its kind. And you drink one a day and the oxygen goes right into the cells like, like immediately. It's not the same as breathing and it makes a huge difference as well. There's, there's a lot of benefit to that. And, and it gives you like, you know, helps with clarity and brain fog. It helps with energy. Of course, sleeping better, better workouts. Like it's, it is, it's. I'm, I'm glad you said that because that's, that's one of the most important ones. Everybody's always focused on fat burning and losing weight and, and all these other things. But if you don't have this part, it's very difficult to lose weight. It's very difficult to build muscle. It's like the foundational stuff. Right?
- [15:10]
B
Exactly. Yeah. And I think that's where people get too focused on like the external. And I'm like, you know, there's a saying like health drives performance. Right. And it's like if you have good internal health, like all the rest is going to take care of itself. Your performance in the gym, your external. Right. All those things. And your cellular function is like the foundation of that. So we've got to start there.
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A
Yeah, yeah. And then some of the peptides. Did I mention some of the ones or what are some other ones that you work with?
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B
Yeah. So I don't actually do peptide treatment myself. I just have a lot of patients that are using peptides simultaneously. But I mean I would say like BPC137 is probably one of the most like foundational ones that a lot of people start with that has a ton of efficacy. But the two that you mentioned as well from like a mitochondrial health perspective can be really valuable. I think the issue with peptides is just like getting them from somewhere that's quality because they're not super well regulated. So I think that as they're becoming more popular, that's the challenge that people are facing is making sure that what they're taking is actually legitimate.
- [16:12]
A
Yeah, for sure. They're actually getting ready to shut down the research pharmacies and not allow people to sell from them, which is I think a good thing. But the, there's plenty of compound pharmacies and regular, not regulated ones, but ones that you can trust that, that you can get good stuff from. You know, and I've had a lot of, a lot of success from with that. And you know, my community and the people that I interview all the time, I just have great connections with that. So something I wanted to touch on was the GLP1 phenomenon right now and losing weight and all that. Like have you worked with any of that or what are your thoughts?
- [16:47]
B
Yeah, again kind of similar to like the peptides have a lot of patients that use GLP1s and you know, I think that what I've seen in the population I work with is just not a lot movement, honestly, especially when they're used by themselves. I think that there can be really helpful for more of these food behavior changes in terms of like reducing food noise so that you're not like thinking about food all the time and snacking and having a lot of cravings. But a lot of the population I work with, they kind of already have a lot of that addressed through like just good nutritional and lifestyle habits. So it doesn't make too much of a dent there. Where I have seen it really help with people is in those that have more chronic illness like autoimmune conditions and microdosing GLP1 to be able to help with the inflammation response. It's kind of similar to how for many years we've been using like low dose naltrexone or LDN for doing a very similar type of thing but in a different mechanism. The low dose GLP1s can provide that support as well. But again it's like with any of those, whether it's peptides or it's GLP1s, right. It's like you have to have the right foundation in terms of like Addressing what's causing the mitochondrial dysfunction in the first place. Otherwise, like, just adding in this extra support is just not going to get you very far.
- [18:04]
A
Yeah, yeah. Well, somebody comes to work with you, you want to get, you know, to the root cause. But do you have, like, what do you start with? When they come to you, what do you start with? And then how do you identify the root causes?
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B
Yeah, so we start with, like, a full assessment. You know, I'm asking them questions about, tell me your core symptoms, like, when do these things start? And really trying to, like, ask questions within these different connecting body systems so that I can really prioritize. What answers do we not have that we need insight into? So maybe it's that I determined we need some more test within these immune system categories, because I feel like there's something going on there that we don't know enough about that I really think is going to make a difference for this person. Or maybe it is insight into their hormone levels or, like, nutrient levels and things. Right. So we customize our testing based off of, like, that patient's story, run those testing panels that we need to and then based off those testing panels, I call it a treatment design board. But it's basically like, I look at their full picture of their symptoms, their history of things, and all of their testing results, and then I map out, okay, like, what's the first domino that needs to fall to be able to realign how their body is functioning? Because we can't do everything at once. And there is an order of operations. Right. Kind of like what we talk about, mitochondria is like, you don't want to just go in and just add in more mitochondrial support. We've got to first address what's depleting those mitochondria of energy. Like, what's causing our mitochondria to become dysfunctional. So we do that first. We spend some time doing that, addressing what's doing that, whether it's in the immune system, different pieces of inflammation in the body. And then we start to reboot mitochondria. We give the mitochondria a little bit more energy. We use protocols that are going to kind of give us more, you know, health, healthy cells. And then that's when we get to that place really of, like, optimization and maintenance. But it really all starts with what is the first domino that needs to fall to be able to start to address where that chronic inflammation begins.
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A
Yeah. And do you see a common mitochondrial inhibitor? Like, what's like, most common one?
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B
You run into it's always a combination. But the main thing that depletes our mitochondria is oxidative stress. Which picture of where there is kind of rust in your cells. Think of it that way. And there's not enough antioxidants to be able to combat that. So people hear of, like, antioxidants such as, you know, olive oil and berries and things. Those are some of your antioxidants. There's others that are a little bit more powerful that are out there, but they're different nutrients that help combat that free radical damage. We can only get so far with that, though, if there's a lot of inputs that are driving oxidative stress. So for a lot of people, that is a high viral load. They've had viruses like Epstein Barr mono, they've had strep, they've had herpes simplex. They have these things living in their body, and they have a really high load of them. So they're not active, but they're just dormant. But they're living in really high levels, and they're depleting the immune system of energy. So think of it as, like, all of your energy is going towards those viruses that are dormant versus that energy going towards healthy mitochondrial function. So that's typically one piece.
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A
And wait, how do you get rid of. How do you get rid of those?
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B
That's where I use the micro immunotherapy a lot is. Is to augment what's happening in the immune system.
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A
Is that an injection or something that you.
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B
They are sublingual tablets. They're like little, like, kind of pellets that you put underneath your tongue. And we use, like, a specific set of them based off of where the body needs extra support.
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A
Gotcha. And then how long does it take usually? Like, what. How. What's the length of the protocol?
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B
Depends on the complexity of what's going on in the immune system. But usually around six months.
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A
Okay, six months. And then they start to feel better as it goes along.
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B
Yeah, and like, we're doing that alongside, like, working on, you know, building, like, a healthier gut microbiome, replenishing nutrients that their body's deficient in, like, a lot of other things. So all that's coming together to really get to the position to where, like, symptoms are at a much improved place.
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A
Yeah. You know, microbiome is a big topic, too, and it's, you know, occurs in your mouth and in your digestive tract, and people don't realize how important microbiome is because, you know, there's mouthwash, toothpaste that kills your mouth's microbiome. And people don't understand that. And they're, they're getting more harm than good from mouthwash and the toothpaste that they use. And then microbiome. There's another thing with this. I was talking to one of the doctors that I had on the show, and, and he was telling me, like, microbiome is so important. Like, people that are successful have a certain microbiome that determines their success. He went real deep with this, and he was like, you know how some people, they're at a sports professional, you know, athletics, basketball, football, baseball, whatever, and the fans always want to reach out and touch the players, and it's a natural thing for us to want to touch success. And that microbiome actually rubs off on you. And he was, he did studies on this, and it's pretty amazing to think about. And he said, surfers have really good, good microbiome because the salt water in the ocean has a lot of microbiome in it. And when they're in there and it's getting all over their skin, of course they ingest some of. Makes a big difference as well. So, you know, people should really focus on that. They should, you know, I think. And everybody should take agency on their own health. Most people don't do that and take, you know, if we're here, you're hearing something on this podcast or you listen to Lawrence podcast, you hear something go. I mean, AI is so easy to use now. Like, do your own research on this stuff because it's, it's powerful. The mitochondria thing, the microbiome thing, those two things are foundational and very powerful. So, yeah, I love that. Now I want to go to the, to the. Do you have children?
- [23:36]
B
Yeah, I have a son.
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A
Okay, so. So take me through now when you decided to go out of the, the. The college realm and start your personal life, right, and get married, have a. Have a child, start a family. How has that affected you and your health and how you approach your personal health?
- [23:52]
B
Oh, it's definitely put a strain on things. Like today, yesterday was a good example of this because he's sick right now. And I'm sure, as you know, having sick children, it's like your whole world just stops.
- [24:02]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah. So you want him to be healthy so bad, you want to do something and you feel so helpless sometimes.
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B
So helpless. And he still is, like, not talking fully, so he can't communicate, you know, what he's feeling. So it's just a lot of crying, which is pretty dysregulating as a parent. Yeah, of course.
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A
So your cortisol levels go up and.
- [24:23]
B
Yeah, yeah. My husband's like, at work till 7pm I'm like, look like I can't do the solo parenting thing a minute more.
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A
Yeah, yeah, no, I get it. So, so what have you done? What have you implemented to start, like, for this new environment?
- [24:37]
B
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, honestly, a lot of, you know, the foundational things that I was doing before have stayed consistent, but a lot of what I've realized is just like, like some of the fluff had to go. You know, there were some things I was doing, like, you know, using my sauna every day and. Or not every day, but every other day, let's say using my red light therapy, using my vagus nerve device. You know, all these really amazing things that have so much support for us, but they just are kind of the fluff. Right. And I. When you don't have enough time, those are the first areas we have to explore is like, can we maybe look at doing those less frequently? So a lot of that fluff has. Has been cut out and my energy is more so focused on like, how do I support these different systems, let's say like our mitochondria, right through exercise, because that is going to be a bigger needle mover and that's maybe the only thing that I have time for a lot of days. So, like, that's been something that stayed consistent. I've always been a morning workout person, so that's been really helpful as well, just to try to get workouts in, like, before he wakes up. For the most part, you know, obviously there's days that don't go as planned. That's been really helpful because then I can at least do something for myself that's supportive before I then have to tend to being a mother. And it also ensures that I'm getting exercise in, you know, walking as well throughout the day too, and just like taking it with me and being like, look, you're going to get some time outside. I need to get some. Some movement in. Right. Has been great. I also have like a walking pad in my office. So when I do work that doesn't require a lot of mental energy, I try to get on that as well. Because that was one area that I kind of like had this idea that when I became a mom, I was just going to be like, like walking around with a stroller all the time in between working. But I actually found that that Wasn't really the case. There was a lot of other things that needed to be done besides walking. So that was an area that I found really dropped off once I became a mom. And so like having a walking pad has helped a lot to be able to support that. But you know, when it comes to like nutritional things too, I've just found that having some preparation in advance has been really great. So I kind of have like establish what are my like, like core essential things in terms of supplements and nutritional things that I need to be doing is like a baseline every day. And then when there's days where like I have a little bit more help or, you know, he doesn't need me as much, then that's when I add in the extra things to be able to just add in that extra support. But I think it's just finding what are those like core essentials that you need that are just your baseline so that you can try to excel at that. And then when you have the capacity for more, you can add in those things on an as need basis. This.
- [27:10]
A
Yeah. Yeah. That's huge. Yeah. One thing helps us is I, I run into people that have twins and triplets. Right?
- [27:17]
B
Yeah.
- [27:18]
A
And so like when you have one or two kids or whatever, you always think, man, like there's people out there that have four or five, they make it happen, you know, so it just put things in perspective because sometimes it's like, you know, just the one. It's such a life changing situation. And putting things in perspective really a lot of times helps with that, you know. But that's one of the things for, for me, especially here where I live in a cold climate in the wintertime time, it's very difficult to get out and get the steps in every day, you know. And I do a lot of podcasting as well. I'm sitting down, I could stand up I guess when I'm podcasting, but, but the steps, like I, I, I, when the weather start, starts turning, I get like 15, 000 steps in a day. But like during this time of year it's kind of, it is, it's kind of difficult, you know. And then when you're even in a nice climate and you have the stroller or what have you, but you gotta be on the calls or on a computer, it's kind of tough, you know. Do you go to the office every day?
- [28:08]
B
I have my office at home.
- [28:10]
A
Okay, okay. And you work with clients just locally or like all over the country? Okay. Remote. Okay.
- [28:16]
B
Yeah. We work internationally, but everything we do like all of our testing and everything, we drop ship and set up where the patient is, and then all of our sessions are remote.
- [28:25]
A
Yeah, yeah. All right. Finally, I want to touch on the podcast. So how long have you been doing the podcast?
- [28:30]
B
This is year five. We're going in.
- [28:33]
A
Okay. And what has the podcast done for you personally and professionally?
- [28:38]
B
Yeah, personally it's been a really great creative outlet because I've been able to share a lot of, you know, science and kind of physiology, but also a lot of integration. And I think one of the biggest piece of feedback I always get from people is just like, how I'm able to simplify things that seem very complex and connect the dots between a lot of different things that maybe don't always seem very connected that are happening in the body. So it's just been really great for me, like, as a creative outlet to be able to do that and to help other people and like even just, you know, hearing people's feedback in terms of how life changing it's been. Even people that, like, I didn't know where they were listening. Right. Or people that like, have never signed up for any program I've ever offered that have said how much it's changed their life. Listening to Episodes has been really amazing and like, has really been all I've wanted out of the podcast. So I think professionally, you know, that's been really supportive. It also is probably our biggest conversion tool. So in terms of like, getting clients that I think are a little bit warm but maybe like, aren't 100% sure that, that we're the ones that can solve their problem to the point where they're like, I know that it's you. Like, you are for sure the one that gets me and can help me with this has been really helpful because I just do better with long form content. I'm more of a complex explainer on things. So, you know, the Instagrams and things just aren't as easy to do that because people want, you know, rapid fire type information. And then, you know, I think personally too, it's just allowed me to offload a lot because when it comes to some other, like, marketing tools, I feel like you have to be very in as an entrepreneur. Like, you know, you're recording a video and then you're writing the caption and you're like, there's just so much involved. Whereas with the podcast, I literally sit down, press record, you know, share my thoughts, and then my team takes it from there and I don't really touch it ever again. So from, like, a time optimization standpoint, it's so easy for me, and it's really been, like, the most low stress, high reward.
- [30:43]
A
Yeah. Do you do solo episodes or interviews or both or.
- [30:46]
B
I do both.
- [30:47]
A
Yeah. Yeah. I. I love it. I mean, and. And how about the networking from it. It, like, have you expanded your network?
- [30:53]
B
Yeah, networking. Just the people, like, the practitioners. I've learned. I've. I've, you know, met. But then also, like, I've learned things, you know, because I'm bringing experts that are, like, expanding on topics that I'm not an expert in. And then I'm. I've learned so much from these experts that have come on my podcast.
- [31:11]
A
Yeah, it's huge. All right, Lauren, thank you so much for being here. Where can people go deeper with you?
- [31:15]
B
Yeah. So on Instagram, I'm at Functional fueling. Website is functional fueling.com and then my podcast is the Strength in Hormones podcast. We're on Apple, YouTube, Spotify.
- [31:27]
A
Awesome. All right, folks, go check her out. That's Lauren Pompanos sharing what she's made of, folks. Make sure you hit the like and subscribe button at the top of your favorite podcast platform and keep coming back. Until next time, be that one.